Zinédine Zidane leads first France session with 12 players at Clairefontaine | OneFootball

Zinédine Zidane began his tenure as France head coach on Monday evening with a session for 12 players at Clairefontaine. The first workout started at 17:46 on the Michel Platini pitch, long favoured by the 1998 generation.

Around 100 journalists watched in bright winter sun. According to L'Équipe, the group consisted of those who had little or no game time at the weekend, especially on Sunday.

Jean Butez, Guillaume Restes, Andy Diouf, Eduardo Camavinga, Michael Olise, Jules Koundé, Maxence Lacroix, Manu Koné, Maghnes Akliouche, Dayot Upamecano, Estéban Lepaul and Lucas Da Cunha began with a possession drill. The remaining 11 squad members were in treatment or the gym.

Technical stations followed, and a few looked tense attempting the exercises under their new coach.

The session closed with five-a-side on small goals. David Bettoni was notably vocal while Zidane offered regular encouragement. Olise impressed in tight spaces, and Diouf did not seem overawed on his first outing. Former goalkeeper Fabien Barthez joked that with pitches like these they would have been world champions three times.

Source: L'Équipe

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